When the marvelous Anne McCaffrey died at the age of 85 in 2011, she left a huge hole in the science fiction field. Fortunately, she gave us hundreds of novels, essays, and short stories to help fill some of that hole, although new readers will never get the chance to see her in person, which was always a treat.
Anne McCaffrey is one of science fiction’s most popular authors. After her novel, The White Dragon, (1978) became one of the first science fiction novels to ever hit The New York Times bestseller list, Anne’s work remained a staple of bestseller lists for decades.
Most non-readers of McCaffrey associate her with the Dragonriders of Pern series and, because the
series has “dragon” in the title, erroneously believe the series is fantasy. Instead, it examines human history on a planet called Pern. Science fiction tropes abound—a planet with an odd orbit, spaceships, telepathy,
…show more content…
lost (but useful) technology, as well as the existence of the Other on two levels—the dragons themselves and the dragonriders, who bond with those dragons.
If Pern were the only thing Anne McCaffrey ever wrote, it would cement her place in science fiction
forever. But it’s not. She also wrote the Brain & Brawn Ship series, which features such classic tales as The Ship Who Sang, the Catteni series, the Talents universe, and more series than I can name in this brief
introduction.
McCaffrey’s importance to the field cannot be understated. She is the first woman to win a Hugo for
fiction. (The first woman to win a Hugo period was Elinor Busby who, along with F. M. Busby, Burnett
Toskey, and Wally Weber, won the Best Fanzine award in 1960.) McCaffrey was also the first woman to win the Nebula Award, winning it in the fourth year the award was given out.
Her awards are too numerous to list here, but they include the Science Fiction Writers of
America Grand Master award, several lifetime achievement awards, and the Golden Pen award, which is given by children to their favorite author. With such a vast array of excellent fiction to choose from, I found it hard to pick the best story for this volume. McCaffrey excels at the novella length, and my favorites of hers are the longer pieces. Because of my word-length constraints for this volume, I spent a lot of happy hours reading her shorter stories. And then I came across “The Smallest Dragonboy,” which I had not read before. It does everything I wanted in the perfect McCaffrey story. It’s entertaining, touching, and compelling. And it’s in her best known series. If you’ve never read any of Anne McCaffrey’s work, this story will open doors for you that will keep you
Ann Rinaldi has written many books for young teenagers, she is an Award winning author who writes stories of American history and makes them become real to the readers. She has written many other books such as A Break with Charity, A Ride into Morning, and Cast two Shadows, etc. She was born in New York City on August 27, 1934. In 1979, at the age of 45, she finished her first book.
helped the Frank family survive during their two years in hiding. Her book is a
has done whatever she has needed to do to get what she wants, and the author
Ray Douglas Bradbury was one of the most distinguished science fiction writers of the last century. Having been penniless during the Depression, Bradbury did not attend college but instead spent countless hours in the library teaching himself everything he believed he would have been taught by a professor (Norman “Obituary: Ray Bradbury…”). Before long, this noble autodidact was writing for mass market publications developing a style of fantasy science fiction writing that would serve as a model for future acolytes such as Steven King and Steven Spielberg (“Bradbury’s prose style…”). In the 1950s, a year in which anti-communist hysteria was most prevalent, Bradbury began to develop an irrational fear of censorship. (Norman “Obituary: Ray Bradbury…”). Bradbury infuses his writings with man vs. society conflicts and despotic characterization which accurately depict his ambivalence towards technology that stems from his fear of these advances eventually leading to the suppression of independent thought, thus suppression of the individual. These elements, found primarily in his first novel, Fahrenheit 451, not only impacted the sci-fi genre, but also made an impact on many readers worldwide gaining Bradbury much admiration in the literary realm.
Gwen Bristow makes the reader think about the message she’s really trying to get across in her book, Celia Garth. One of Gwen Bristows greatest attributes as a writer is her ability to connect the content of the text very closely to what actually happened in the time period. Gwen incorporates important characters of the Revolutionary Period into the text and gives them certain roles to develop their character. The author also uses a minor amount of battles from the Revolutionary War to help keep the story flowing. Another thing the author is very strong at is showing the war through Celia’s eyes, which shows the consequences of war from the standpoint of a common townsfolk. Gwen Bristow is able to captivate her readers with her ability to relate the text to what happened in the Revolutionary time period.
Anne and her husband, Edward, did many things that were not typical during the early 20th century, but these "atypical" characteristics made the couple very unique. Anne was the "unannounced" valedictorian of her class at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College (Potter 129). This was unusual because at the time African American women were able to attend school, but most did not go to college, much less become the valedictorian of the graduating class. Though some say that Anne was not the valedictorian of her class, but rather a shy girl was the valedictorian, and Anne definitely was not shy ("Anne Bethel"). Anne’s intelligence is definitely shown throughout her work.
Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, published by Washington Square Press, is regarded by most critics to be her masterpiece. After publishing almost eighty books, this was the one she was truly most proud of. Why? Mainly, because critics have quoted it to have sold more copies than Shakespeare and the Bible. However, Christie has so much more to be proud of in this novel.
Zora Neale Hurston was best known for her novels and different collections of folklore. She was a writer who associated with the Harlem Renaissance that celebrated the African American culture of the south. Her first novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, was a best-selling novel in 1937.
an author which truly achieved many firsts for women. She was the first woman to
Denise-Marie Ordway, a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel and The Philadelphia Inquirer and also wrote news for two radio stations and a newspaper in Central America. She was named as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013 for
Cassandra Clare is the author of The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Bane Chronicles. All of her literary works surround the world of Shadowhunters, also known as Nephilim, which are a race of beings born with angelic blood. Cassandra’s first book, City of Bones, was released in 2004. Since then, she has released over ten books and she has plans to release more. Cassandra Clare is an influential author of the 20th century because of her unique books, widespread fan base, and successful publications.
In conclusion Mileva had a wonderful life and may not have been recognized for all of her achievements but definitely deserves to be. I hope that her story had inspired future scientist to come out and show the world new eye opening things. Even though Mileva was never granted a diploma from any university that she attended she has made a difference in today's society because of her ability to be a women and discover the diffrent possibilities in science that she has. Even Albert Einstein was inspired by this lovely lady "Everything that I achieved in my life, I must thank Mileva. She is my genius inspirer, my protector against the hardships of life and science. Without her, my work would have never have been started nor finished." -Albert Einstein quote for Mileva Maric, in 1905.
Harper Lee is a household name and her work is regarded very highly. Her novel, To
...e largest pre-ordered book in Barnes and Nobles history. Rowling has also recieved many awards for her writing. She recieved "Author of the Year", "Lifetime Achievement Award" and the "British Book Awards" in 1999 and in 2008. She also recieved "Booksellers Association Author of the Year" in 1998 and 1999.